madness

New Blog

I started a new blog for 2006. The URL is http://gnightmoon2006.blogspot.com. This blog and all Crewhater blogs can be accessed through www.observetheownage.com.

Ping Pong

The other night I got involved in a marathon ping pong battle with Leo, Paul, and the Wolf. All three of them were in the zone and I got crushed repeatedly. Normally I play these guys pretty even but on this night I had no chance.

It got me thinking. I don't really get into "the zone." I tend to play solid and feed off the mistakes of others, be it in ping pong, frisbee golf, ultimate frisbee, or poker. It's very rare for me to play "above the rim" and beat people. My victories come when people beat themselves. I don't know anyone who has had more success playing frisbee golf and poker than I have, though I know friends who are more talented at these games. I tend to surpass them because I do not make as many mistakes as they do. If they play flawlessly, they should beat me almost every time.

It's important for me to stay patient. Sometimes when I am losing I press and force things a bit. When I think about my greatest successes in poker, they came when I was patient and gave myself the chance to get lucky. I lose when I try to outplay people and I make mistakes. If an opponent plays his best against me, he will usually win. But most people don't play anywhere near their best, no matter what the game.

Vacation/WHOTW

I haven't seriously played poker in a week and it may be another two weeks before I do. I have a bold plan for when I do return - which I will reveal then - but until then all I want to do is hang out with friends, eat, drink, sleep, and exercise.

From the archives:

WHOTW

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Jd, Kd ]
KriyaYoga folds.
hotmark777 folds.
HotNikkels folds.
thorrun folds.
MrW0nderful9 folds.
lancealot1 folds.
kingdavid18 folds.
hustler813 calls (10)
GnightMoon raises (45) to 65
hustler813 calls (45)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6s, 5c, Kh ]
hustler813 checks.
GnightMoon bets (84)
hustler813 raises (492) to 492
hustler813 is all-In.
GnightMoon calls (408)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6d ]
** Dealing River ** : [ 9h ]
Creating Main Pot with $1111 with hustler813
** Summary **
hustler813 balance $0, lost $557 [ Jc 4h ] [ a pair of sixes -- Kh,Jc,9h,6s,6d ]

Poker is Hard

It's easy when you have J9 against T8 and AhKh and it comes T87 with 2 hearts and your hand holds up. It's easy when you get aces against kings and ace-king. It's easy when you get aces against queens and it's easy when your opponents are folding ace-king to your button raise, as one fellow (actually a good player) did at Canterbury.

It's not so easy when you've got two Swedes and Layne Flack staring you down as you try to bluff with 8 high. It's not so easy to accumulate chips when you get continually reraised and you have nothing. And it's downright hard when you sabotage your own chances by playing afraid and making amateurish mistakes.

I didn't play my best today and I didn't get lucky. I did flop quads twice but there was little I could do to get much out of my opponents. I lost about 20k in the first level and then slowly gained ground back to around 54k when I was moved to a new table, no more Swedes. The new table did have my nemesis from yesterday, Rajj Kattamuri, Kenna James, Clonie Gowen with a big stack, and the legendary Sam Farha tilting off the remains of a once towering stack on my right. None of them really caused a problem for me though - it was this kind-looking older lady who plays a very mean game of poker who busted my ass.

Five Diamond Day One

I have 65,900 chips after day one. We started with 30k. I lost 18k to Raja Kattamuri on the second to last hand of the day. He had the nut straight and I had middle pair and I called his 13k river bet. I analyzed the hand thorougly and concluded that he had the nuts or nothing. That one stings to end the day as it was one of only two real pots I lost all day. The other was with AK against Steve Dannenmann's slowplayed AA but luckily I didn't hit anything and escaped with a small loss.

It was a very smooth day. My chip stack went up every level as I continuously won medium sized pots and never lost a big one. My table was tight and no one was determined to win the tournament on day one. Raja was the most active player at the table, four to my left, with Steve Dannenmann to his left. I had Ron Stanley (4th place to Stu Ungar in 97 WSOP) to my right and Fred Sigur three to my left. I had good focus all day and I followed through on my plan to think about every play very thoroughly and methodically, making sure I gathered all the information and processed it before making a decision. It was a good day but this thing is only beginning. 2/3 of the field still remains and tomorrow I will likely be at a tougher table with bigger stacks.

At one point about halfway through the day I had just bluffed Raja out of a pot and I was talking to Dannemann. He plays very solid poker but doesn't make a lot of super sophisticated plays or incredible calldowns or anything. He said all he did was play premium hands the first six days of the WSOP and then got lucky a few times at the final table. Sitting there with the chip lead at the table I really started to feel like I could win this thing, and it made me nervous. I'm starting to really think I could make a final table in one of these events, and it doesn't just seem like a dream anymore.

Cowboy Up

The rodeo is in town.

A major rodeo event ended today here in Las Vegas, and the Gold Coast is packed with cowboys, wannabe cowboys, and even a few cowgirls and cowboy groupies. Downstairs in the casino there are more than a hundred such folk right now, most partying happily. I didn't even know there were that many cowboys still around.

It is a far different scene at the Bellagio.

There is an intense excitement over there in the poker room. I saw at least ten recognizable pros when I went over to buy in for tomorrow's tournament, the championship event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Everywhere there was chatter, excited voices celebrating satellite wins, hushed tones discussing misplayed hands, and angry, fatalistic cries after bad beats. They ran a supersatellite for the main event today and got 500 customers. Yesterday's had around 450. The winners sheet from the supersatellites read like randomly generated lists of the top 300 players from Cardplayer's Player of the Year rankings.

This event is a cut above the rest of the circuit. There are several elements that distinguish the 5 Diamond from the rest of the big events:

• The buy-in. 15k. The only major open American event with a bigger pricetag is the 25k WPT Championship.
• The structure. Unlike most WPT events which are four days long, this one is five. The levels are longer and the stacks deeper.
• The tradition. Three years ago this was the inaugural event of the World Poker Tour. I believe that was the first final table ever filmed with hole card cameras in the United States. The champion of that event was Gus Hansen. Paul Phillips won in 2003 and Daniel Negreanu last year. John Juanda, Dewey Tomko, and Humberto Brenes have been the runners-up.
• The venue. The Bellagio is the epicenter of poker in Las Vegas and hosts the biggest games in the world. Also, the Bellagio is generally considered the classiest place to play poker in the States.

I've been thinking about the Five Diamond for weeks. I'm more nervous and excited than I have been since the night before the WSOP main event. With the great structure and strong field of players, there is no way I will be able to make it to day four without playing the best poker of my life. But there is no reason to think I won't. I feel very prepared.

A Hard Day's Night

I put my nose back to the grindstone today. I felt like I had gotten robbed yesterday and I was eager to put it behind me and book a win. Well, right off the bat this happened:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ As, Ac ]
SEXSEAPOKER folds.
GnightMoon calls (20)
hsinpei folds.
hotmark777 folds.
BukakeSoup raises (40) to 40
sacar folds.
tigliger folds.
SonikBooooom folds.
KINEEKEEYS folds.
GnightMoon raises (180) to 200
BukakeSoup calls (160)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6d, 9h, Ts ]
GnightMoon checks.
BukakeSoup checks.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Jc ]
GnightMoon checks.
BukakeSoup bets (700)
GnightMoon raises (1750) to 1750
GnightMoon is all-In.
BukakeSoup calls (1050)
** Dealing River ** : [ Kh ]
Creating Main Pot with $3927 with GnightMoon
** Summary **
Main Pot: $3927 Rake: $3
Board: [ 6d 9h Ts Jc Kh ]
BukakeSoup balance $4310.50, bet $1950, collected $3927, net +$1977 [ Qs Ad ] [ a straight, ten to ace -- Ad,Kh,Qs,Jc,Ts ]

Just sickening. Once again I manipulate an idiot into putting in his whole stack as a 4:1 underdog and once again he catches the miracle. I struggled all afternoon. Every time I would get close to even for the session I would lose a big pot and get knocked back down. Then this masterpiece - maybe the greatest hand I have ever played:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 9s, 9h ]
GnightMoon calls (20)
jman5j23 calls (20)
hotmark777 calls (20)
josshouse folds.
Ozzy_87 calls (20)
davidliu calls (20)
B_Budddy calls (20)
KINEEKEEYS calls (10)
MrW0nderful9 checks.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9c, Ts, Th ]
KINEEKEEYS checks.
MrW0nderful9 checks.
GnightMoon bets (108)
jman5j23 folds.
hotmark777 folds.
Ozzy_87 folds.
davidliu raises (216) to 216
B_Budddy folds.
KINEEKEEYS folds.
MrW0nderful9 calls (216)
GnightMoon raises (392) to 500
davidliu calls (284)
MrW0nderful9 raises (784) to 1000
GnightMoon folds.
davidliu calls (500)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 8d ]
MrW0nderful9 checks.
davidliu checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ 6d ]
MrW0nderful9 bets (1400)
davidliu calls (1400)
** Summary **Main Pot: $5457 Rake: $3
Board: [ 9c Ts Th 8d 6d ]
davidliu balance $178.50, lost $2420 [ As Td ]
MrW0nderful9 balance $7084, bet $2420, collected $5457, net +$3037 [ 9d Tc ]

I was so pumped up after Wonderful's cards were shown. So few players could have gotten away from this. I deliberately made the reraise on the flop to find out what was going on. I read the situation just perfectly, knowing liu had a ten and Wonderful the nuts. I went upstairs and bragged about the laydown to about 8 people before going back to play. I thought I would immediately start crushing but I made a couple ill-timed bluffs and once again I was down around 3k for the session.

I won a huge pot with AK against 88 on a QJT9x board to get back near even again, and then this disaster:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Jh, Js ]
zspec32 folds.
Ozzy_87 folds.
Pierside1987 calls (20)
Hubris12 raises (60) to 60
mortalfrog folds.
slothr0p folds.
zubersurge calls (60)
sydschwartz folds.
GnightMoon calls (50)
Mitera folds.
Pierside1987 calls (40)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5c, Jd, 7c ]
GnightMoon checks.
Pierside1987 checks.
Hubris12 bets (200)
zubersurge folds.
GnightMoon raises (600) to 600
Pierside1987 folds.
Hubris12 calls (400)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2c ]
GnightMoon checks.
Hubris12 bets (500)
GnightMoon raises (1556) to 1556
GnightMoon is all-In.
Hubris12 calls (1056)
** Dealing River ** : [ Kh ]
Creating Main Pot with $4569 with GnightMoon
** Summary **Main Pot: $4569 Rake: $3
Board: [ 5c Jd 7c 2c Kh ]
Pierside1987 balance $2072, lost $60 (folded)
Hubris12 balance $5044, bet $2216, collected $4569, net +$2353 [ 6c Ac ] [ a flush, ace high -- Ac,7c,6c,5c,2c ]
GnightMoon balance $0, lost $2216 [ Jh Js ] [ three of a kind, jacks -- Kh,Jh,Js,Jd,7c ]

I give my opponent full credit on this one. He made a fantastic bet on the turn (though I probably would have paid off anything). His preflop raise made it less likely for him to have two clubs in his hand. I really thought he had a pair or a jack, and out of position I felt I had no choice but to play the hand like I did.

I was forced to work my way back, and once again I did just that, playing hands like this absolutely perfectly:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 8c, 8d ]
hotmark777 folds.
GnightMoon calls (20)
Ozzy_87 raises (80) to 80
JC2O15 folds.
mortalfrog folds.
Blondebirch folds.
Razer1000 folds.
GnightMoon calls (60)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 4h, Ts, 8s ]
GnightMoon checks.
Ozzy_87 bets (160)
GnightMoon calls (160)
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 6s ]
GnightMoon checks.
Ozzy_87 checks.
** Dealing River ** : [ Ad ]
GnightMoon checks.
Ozzy_87 bets (160)
GnightMoon raises (425) to 425
Ozzy_87 calls (265)
** Summary **
Main Pot: $1357
GnightMoon balance $8215, bet $665, collected $1357, net +$692 [ 8c 8d ] [ three of a kind, eights -- Ad,Ts,8c,8d,8s ]
Ozzy_87 balance $1335, lost $665 [ Jd Ac ]

I had built several decent-sized stacks at this point. At one of my tables I had 3k and so did the player to my left. I had watched him make a number of putrid plays and was excited at the chance to take his stack. I thought I was doing just that on this crucial hand:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 5h, 5c ]
hughesrandy folds.
CyberTheft folds.
jman5j23 raises (60) to 60
GnightMoon calls (60)
steve01218 raises (100) to 100
RlVERRAT folds.FeederFish folds.
jman5j23 calls (40)
GnightMoon calls (40)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 5d, Ts, 4h ]
jman5j23 checks.
GnightMoon checks.
steve01218 bets (125)
jman5j23 calls (125)
GnightMoon raises (450) to 450
steve01218 calls (325)
jman5j23 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ Ad ]
GnightMoon checks.
steve01218 bets (250)
GnightMoon raises (900) to 900
steve01218 calls (650)
** Dealing River ** : [ 4d ]
GnightMoon bets (1645)
steve01218 calls (1645)
** Summary **Main Pot: $6442 Rake: $3 Board: [ 5d Ts 4h Ad 4d ]
steve01218 balance $6692, bet $3095, collected $6442, net +$3347 [ Ah Ac ] [ a full house, Aces full of fours -- Ah,Ac,Ad,4h,4d ]

I think my original intention was to check and call on the turn, as I had put him on pocket aces the entire hand. When I saw his weak bet though, a voice told me not to blow this opportunity to take his stack assuming he had AK. He called my bet so quickly on the turn that it did not look like a monster (as monsters often think before deciding to slowplay), and I fired huge again on the river. I was pretty deflated after losing this pot, knowing I would have gotten his whole stack if the ace did not hit. He was a very weak player and there is no way he would have been able to fold pocket aces on this (or any) board. So instead of fighting all day and then winning 3k to get into the black, I lost 3k on the hand and had hit a new low point for the day.

***

INTERMISSION/DONUTBOY DEBACLE OF THE WEEK

One of the regulars on the 2k Party tables is a player named donutboy18. Although he plays consistently, always buys in for the max, and plays in a tight-aggressive manner, he is an absolute disaster of a player. His modus operandi is to make huge overbets and ridiculous over-the-top raises. He can be a pain to play against but the truth is donutboy's style wins small pots but never wins big pots unless he is beat. He also likes to slowplay in the wrong situations, which leads to him making bets that can only be called by better hands:

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 9d, Jd ]
slothr0p folds.
GnightMoon calls (20)
ineedhelp calls (20)
Surfin_Dude raises (100) to 100
Jackal86 folds.
fedya21 folds.
penguiny folds.
donutboy18 calls (90)
fazz2 calls (80)
GnightMoon calls (80)
ineedhelp calls (80)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 9h, 8c, 6d ]
donutboy18 checks.
fazz2 checks.
GnightMoon checks.
ineedhelp checks.
Surfin_Dude checks.
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 3d ]
donutboy18 checks.
fazz2 bets (600)
GnightMoon calls (600)
ineedhelp folds.
Surfin_Dude folds.
donutboy18 raises (1860) to 1860
donutboy18 is all-In.
fazz2 raises (4127.36) to 4727.36
fazz2 is all-In.
GnightMoon folds.
** Dealing River ** : [ 2c ]
Creating Main Pot with $4817 with donutboy18
Creating Side Pot 1 with $2867.36 with fazz2
** Summary **
Main Pot: $4817
donutboy18 balance $0, lost $1960 [ Kh Ks ] [ a pair of kings -- Kh,Ks,9h,8c,6d ]
fazz2 balance $7684.36, bet $4827.36, collected $7684.36, net +$2857 [ 6s 6h ] [ three of a kind, sixes -- 9h,8c,6s,6h,6d ]

***

I fought and scrapped, caught a little rush, and somehow carved out a small profit for the day. It wasn't so much getting lucky as it was not getting unlucky. These idiots will pay you off every time if they have anything. For the last week my luck has been so bad that I had been starting to forget what it was like to have a hand hold up. I've never run as badly as I did this week and I'm proud of not losing more than I did the last couple days. I think a break-even player would have dropped at least 25k in my shoes.

__

I went upstairs and got a bite to eat, pumped about my comeback and ready to do something social. However, no one in the house was around and probes into the outside world proved fruitless. With nothing else to do I decided to return to the tables for some Friday night action. I haven't played on Friday night since I can remember. If tonight was an accurate representation it may be in my best interest to never go out on Friday night again.

__

I was handed 8k. I didn't even have to work for it. Truman watched the whole thing unfold. He just kept looking at the screen, puzzled, and then asked "wait a minute...that guy had nothing?" This was probably the worst collection of players I have ever seen playing high-stakes poker in my life. Take a look at some of these plays:

___

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Ac, Qd ]

madphly folds.

htkiunsvg folds.

ice_princess folds.

GnightMoon calls (20)

War_Eagle86 folds.

sanchezyou raises (100) to 100

Phallusy folds.

TIMEPEACE folds.

UncleRock folds.

GnightMoon calls (80)

** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qc, Kc, 9c ]

GnightMoon checks.

sanchezyou bets (150)

GnightMoon raises (500) to 500

sanchezyou raises (974.50) to 1124.50

sanchezyou is all-In.

GnightMoon calls (624.50)

** Dealing Turn ** : [ 5h ]

** Dealing River ** : [ 6s ]

Creating Main Pot with $2476 with sanchezyou

** Summary **Main Pot: $2476 Rake: $3Board: [ Qc Kc 9c 5h 6s ]

GnightMoon balance $3329.50, bet $1224.50, collected $2476, net +$1251.50 [ Ac Qd ] [ a pair of queens -- Ac,Kc,Qd,Qc,9c ]

sanchezyou balance $0, lost $1224.50 [ Jd Js ] [ a pair of jacks -- Kc,Qc,Jd,Js,9c ]

I guess he put me on a bluff.

___

Dealt to GnightMoon [ Qc, Qs ]

madphly calls (20)

DEROSA05 raises (90) to 90

Jackal86 calls (90)

GnightMoon raises (350) to 350

TIMEPEACE folds.

katyroller folds.

htkiunsvg folds.

YahtzeeH folds.

justwolf17 folds.

madphly folds.

DEROSA05 raises (509) to 599

DEROSA05 is all-In.

Jackal86 folds.

GnightMoon calls (249)

Creating Main Pot with $1335 with DEROSA05

** Dealing Flop ** : [ Qd, 2s, Js ]

** Dealing Turn ** : [ 3d ]

** Dealing River ** : [ 9s ]

** Summary **

Main Pot: $1335

GnightMoon balance $3460, bet $599, collected $1335, net +$736 [ Qc Qs ]

DEROSA05 balance $0, lost $599 [ Th Ah ] [ high card ace -- Ah,Qd,Js,Th,9s ]

I guess he put me on ace-nine. And the biggest:

___

Dealt to GnightMoon [ 2s, 2h ]

CrazyAly calls (20)

N__________1 folds.

Orangesox raises (75) to 75

GnightMoon calls (65)

Fakenick10 folds.

CrazyAly calls (55)

** Dealing Flop ** : [ 2c, 6d, 6s ]

GnightMoon checks.

CrazyAly checks.

Orangesox bets (125)

GnightMoon calls (125)

CrazyAly calls (125)

** Dealing Turn ** : [ 4c ]

GnightMoon bets (358)

CrazyAly calls (358)

Orangesox calls (358)

** Dealing River ** : [ 3d ]

GnightMoon bets (1032)

CrazyAly raises (2064) to 2064

Orangesox folds.

GnightMoon calls (1032)

** Summary **Main Pot: $5820 Rake: $2

Board: [ 2c 6d 6s 4c 3d ]

CrazyAly balance $185, lost $2622 [ 4s 5s ] [ a straight, two to six -- 6d,5s,4s,3d,2c ]

GnightMoonbalance $8597, bet $2622, collected $5820, net +$3198 [ 2s 2h ] [ a full house, Twos full of sixes -- 6d,6s,2s,2h,2c ]

***

I think I'm going to take a break from playing online the next couple days, and just get completely focused on the WPT event which starts Monday. I feel great about my online play, having minimized the damage from the worst run of cards of my life. I was supposed to lose a lot of money, I think, and instead I won a little bit.